War in Ukraine | Far from the front line, citizens want to help

(Lviv) In a packed warehouse in Ukraine, Roman Kolobochok is on a mission to find his friend, who is fighting on the front line, a sight for snipers.

In the middle of shelves where donations from all over the world flock, the 35-year-old young man, member of the scout movement, announces that he will order the telescopic telescope from the United States.

Prior to Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Kolobochok was in charge of the “souvenirs” section of a chain of restaurants. He also often traveled to the United States to transport embryos, sperm samples and oocytes, for the benefit of a clinic for surrogate mothers.

In times of war, everyone must contribute their greatest talent. And his talent, he says, is to be a “great resourceful”.

He thus asked his bosses to grant him a corner of their warehouse in Lviv, in western Ukraine, far from the fighting.

With other improvised logisticians, he sorts the messages asking for help across the country and then sets out to find the items requested.

On the shelves lie sleeping bags, tents, but also flour, caffeinated drinks, surgical gloves and soap. In another section, those of the drugs, insulin waits in a refrigerator.

Collections on the Internet

In recent days, volunteers have sent packages to Kirev, Kharkiv (east) and Mykolaiv, near the Black Sea, says Mr. Kolobochok.

And there is growing demand for night vision goggles, GPS navigators and army food rations, which more than 50 Scouts have joined.

Donations continue to pour in. Scouts from Spain sent truckloads full of equipment to Lviv. An American living in Texas even took leave to deliver one hundred first aid kits from Philadelphia to one of New York’s airports.

And within days, Ukrainian volunteers raised enough money to buy a drone.

“The world supports us,” assures Mr. Kolobochok.

In another warehouse in Lviv, Anastasia Sokhatska, 26, also a Boy Scout, stands amid water bottles, military boots, Ukrainian flags, homemade camouflage netting and chainsaws.

When the army needs something, she says, she organizes social media fundraisers with other volunteers and then makes sure the package is received.

“I need to help. It’s my country, ”says the one who previously worked in the IT sector. “I can’t do nothing.”

Being a woman in times of war is an advantage, assures the young Ukrainian. She can thus cross the nearby border with Poland and then return without worry, the car loaded with donations and equipment.

Men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the territory, being able to be called up.

Sleep in a theater

The scouts are not the only ones active behind the front line.

When thousands of Ukrainians took refuge in Lviv, a city for the time being spared from the Russian bombardments, everyone mobilized to help them.

Photo YURIY DYACHYSHYN, Agence France-Presse

In another shelter hosting hundreds of displaced people, Dacha Bondarenko, 19, a veterinary student, helps new arrivals settle in and find clean clothes.

A specialist in organizing weddings and the head of a taxi company, Pavlo Bodnar, 29, was unable to join the army. Never mind, it now offers free rides to people fleeing war, or those returning from abroad, when they arrive in Lviv after the curfew begins.

He and other volunteers managed to obtain passes while all traffic by private vehicle is prohibited between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time (2 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET).

They now have a whole “team that can transport people” at night, he says.